REALITY BITES

Listen to the experts, as they lift the veil on how to become a superstar overnight.

Move over producers of Reality TV shows…. Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert, Durban’s irrepressible husband-and-wife comedy duo, are currently unleashing further waves of hilarity over their fans with their hot-property comedy, Reality Bites, which premiered in Durban last February. Due to popular demand, this not-to-be-missed entertainment is now running for a short season at the Heritage Theatre in Hillcrest until May 1.

Reality Bites spotlights the inimitable show biz couple as they probe the global obsession with instant celebrities spawned by that media malaise of our age, the reality television show. Aided and abetted by DJ KingB, alias Nathan Redpath, McIlroy and Bobbert, in the guise of their vacuous stage alter egos, Bruce and Charmaine Siringinson, set out to demolish any misconceptions we may cling to about what it takes to become an overnight sensation.

Rule of thumb for quick-fix super-stardom? It’s simply a case or ‘Less Is More’. The less you have to offer, the greater your chance of hitting the jackpot – and becoming an overnight celebrity, say our experts. Think Paris Hilton on a shopping spree for designer pet food. Think Tiger Woods, emerging from rehab to set up shop as a marriage guidance councillor.

More specifically, picture our own, upwardly-mobile Charmaine, dragging that ultimate loser of a hubbie of hers, the hapless Bruce, mercilessly along in her wake, as she gate-crashes the tantalizing world of botoxed silver-screen sirens, nipped-and-tucked personal trainers, know-it-all lifestyle experts, ruthlessly outspoken fashion-stylists, and the rest.

Presented by MacBob Productions, Reality Bites delivers a fast-paced evening of satire and mirth. The show is liberally laced with up-beat musical interludes and in-your-face multi-media inserts, featuring ‘celebrity guests’ who are drawn from McIlroy’s and Bobbert’s inexhaustible gallery of stage characters – all quick to offer their own advice on how to upgrade your personal branding, and attain instant material success.

Reality Bites runs until May 1 at the Heritage Theatre in Hillcrest Heritage Market. Meals are served from 19h00 and the show starts at 20h30 (Sunday lunches from 12h30 with the show at 14h00). Tickets R195 pp include a two-course meal and the show (R120 on Tuesdays and Sundays at 12h30 for 14h00). Booking is essential on 031 765 4197.